Cowles Publishing Company
Encyclopedia
Cowles Publishing Company, sometimes shortened to Cowles Company, is a newspaper
publisher and diversified company in Spokane, Washington
in the United States
. Cowles Publishing owns and operates the The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane founded in 1894. The company operates Inland Empire Paper Company, television
stations, and interests in real estate
, insurance
, marketing
and financial
services.
William Stacey Cowles is the publisher and the fourth generation to publish the The Spokesman-Review. Gary Graham is the editor. Elizabeth A. Cowles, chairwoman of the parent company, is the publisher's sister and like him is a descendant of Willam H. Cowles, the company's founder.
William H. Cowles came to Spokane at age 24 to be the business manager of the Spokesman, which was founded less than two years before, and excelled at local news coverage. He had experience as a police reporter for the Chicago Tribune
and was the son of the Tribunes treasurer, Alfred Cowles, Sr.
In 1893 the paper merged with its competitor, the Review to become The Spokesman-Review which Cowles purchased from his partners. He acquired the Chronicle in 1897. According to Time in 1952, he was a "determined man" who had an artificial leg yet walked two miles to the office each day.
Cowles set the Chronicle on a course to be independent, and The Spokesman-Review to support Republican Party
causes. Time magazine related the paper's success gaining lowered rates for freight carried to the Northwest United States and an improved park system and that helped the region. Increasing its reputation for comprehensive local news and by opposing "gambling, liquor and prostitution," The Spokesman-Review gained popularity. The paper's opposition to building the Grand Coulee Dam
was not quite so universally applauded and when it opposed the New Deal
and the Fair Deal
, it so disturbed President of the United States Harry Truman that he declared the Spokesman-Review to be one of the "two worst" newspapers in the United States. The Scripps League's Press closed in 1939, making Cowles the only newspaper publisher in Spokane. Cowles created four weeklies, the Idaho Farmer, Washington Farmer, Oregon Farmer and Utah Farmer.
Cowles died in 1946. When William H. Cowles, Jr. succeeded his father as publisher, James Bracken received much more news and editorial control as managing editor.
The original Review Building, designed by Seaton & Ferris in 1891 in an unusual style closest to Richardson Romanesque, is ten stories with a tower that reaches 146 feet (45 m). In 1975 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
.
of Yakima, Washington
and KNDU
of Richland, Washington
. As of September 2007, Cowles California Media Company planned to acquire two CBS
affiliate television stations for USD $41 million from Newport Television
, one of the holding companies formed by Providence Equity Partners
when Providence planned to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications
. They are KCOY-TV
in Santa Barbara
-Santa Maria
-San Luis Obispo
California
and KION-TV
in Monterey, California
. KION carries The CW Television Network
on a separate digital channel. Cowles would also have a management agreement with KCBA
, the Fox
affiliate serving Salinas, Monterey and Santa Cruz, California
, and would acquire two low power stations, KKFX-CA
, also Fox in San Luis Obispo, California
and the Telemundo
affiliate KMUV-LP
in Monterey. The deal closed on May 7, 2008.
The Cowles family of Spokane is descended from Elizabeth (1827–1910) and Sarah Hutchinson (1837–1884) of Cayuga County, New York
. The two sisters married two brothers, Alfred Cowles, Sr.
and Edwin Cowles
of Cleveland, Ohio
. Edwin published the Cleveland Leader and Alfred moved to Chicago
, Illinois
where he purchased one third of the Chicago Tribune
.
Feminist and educator Betsy Mix Cowles
was Alfred and Edwin's paternal aunt. Edwin's sons Alfred and Eugene were chemists and metallurgists who invented and operated electric arc smelter
s to extract aluminum. Alfred Cowles
, 3rd—the grandson of Alfred, Sr.—founded the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics
following the Great Depression
.
Distantly related, the Cowles family of Spokane are about sixth cousins of the family of Gardner Cowles, Sr. of Des Moines, Iowa
and Minneapolis, Minnesota
who owned Cowles Media Company
. Both Cowles publishing families are descendants of Hannah Bushoup (c.1613-1683) of Hartford, Connecticut
and John Cowles (1598–1675) of Gloucestershire
, England
.
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
publisher and diversified company in Spokane, Washington
Spokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Cowles Publishing owns and operates the The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane founded in 1894. The company operates Inland Empire Paper Company, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
stations, and interests in real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
, insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
, marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
and financial
FINANCIAL
FINANCIAL is the weekly English-language newspaper with offices in Tbilisi, Georgia and Kiev, Ukraine. Published by Intelligence Group LLC, FINANCIAL is focused on opinion leaders and top business decision-makers; It's about world’s largest companies, investing, careers, and small business. It is...
services.
William Stacey Cowles is the publisher and the fourth generation to publish the The Spokesman-Review. Gary Graham is the editor. Elizabeth A. Cowles, chairwoman of the parent company, is the publisher's sister and like him is a descendant of Willam H. Cowles, the company's founder.
History
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
and was the son of the Tribunes treasurer, Alfred Cowles, Sr.
Alfred Cowles, Sr.
Alfred Cowles, Sr. was an American businessperson and newspaper publisher. During the 1860s to 1880s he was bookkeeper, treasurer and business manager of the Chicago Tribune of which he was part owner....
In 1893 the paper merged with its competitor, the Review to become The Spokesman-Review which Cowles purchased from his partners. He acquired the Chronicle in 1897. According to Time in 1952, he was a "determined man" who had an artificial leg yet walked two miles to the office each day.
Cowles set the Chronicle on a course to be independent, and The Spokesman-Review to support Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
causes. Time magazine related the paper's success gaining lowered rates for freight carried to the Northwest United States and an improved park system and that helped the region. Increasing its reputation for comprehensive local news and by opposing "gambling, liquor and prostitution," The Spokesman-Review gained popularity. The paper's opposition to building the Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam
Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. It was constructed between 1933 and 1942, originally with two power plants. A third power station was completed in 1974 to increase its energy...
was not quite so universally applauded and when it opposed the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
and the Fair Deal
Fair Deal
The Fair Deal was the term given to an ambitious set of proposals put forward by United States President Harry S. Truman to the United States Congress in his January 1949 State of the Union address. The term, however, has also been used to describe the domestic reform agenda of the Truman...
, it so disturbed President of the United States Harry Truman that he declared the Spokesman-Review to be one of the "two worst" newspapers in the United States. The Scripps League's Press closed in 1939, making Cowles the only newspaper publisher in Spokane. Cowles created four weeklies, the Idaho Farmer, Washington Farmer, Oregon Farmer and Utah Farmer.
Cowles died in 1946. When William H. Cowles, Jr. succeeded his father as publisher, James Bracken received much more news and editorial control as managing editor.
The original Review Building, designed by Seaton & Ferris in 1891 in an unusual style closest to Richardson Romanesque, is ten stories with a tower that reaches 146 feet (45 m). In 1975 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Television
Cowles television stations include KHQ of Spokane, KNDOKNDO
KNDO is the NBC affiliate television station serving the Yakima, Washington, USA, area. It is owned by the Cowles Publishing Company of Spokane as part of The KHQ Television Group. It is sister station to KNDU in the Tri-Cities, which is considered a semi-satellite of KNDO even though the two...
of Yakima, Washington
Yakima, Washington
Yakima is an American city southeast of Mount Rainier National Park and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the eighth largest city by population in the state itself. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 91,196 and a metropolitan population of...
and KNDU
KNDU
KNDU is an NBC affiliate television station serving south-central and southeastern Washington state. The station, which broadcasts on digital channel 26, is based in the Tri-Cities region of Pasco, Richland and Kennewick. The station is licensed to Richland, but its studio is located in Kennewick....
of Richland, Washington
Richland, Washington
Richland is a city in Benton County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington, at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 48,058. April 1, 2011 estimates from the Washington State Office of Financial Management put the...
. As of September 2007, Cowles California Media Company planned to acquire two CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate television stations for USD $41 million from Newport Television
Newport Television
Newport Television, LLC is a television station holding company founded by Providence Equity Partners and Sandy DiPasquale in 2007 to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. In September 2007, Newport agreed to sell KFTY and KVOS-TV to LK Station Group LLC for $26.6...
, one of the holding companies formed by Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners is a global private equity investment firm focused on media, entertainment, communications and information investments...
when Providence planned to acquire the television stations owned by Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
. They are KCOY-TV
KCOY-TV
KCOY-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for the Central Coast of California that is licensed to Santa Maria. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on Tepusquet Peak in the Los Padres National Forest east of Santa Maria. Owned by the Cowles...
in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
-Santa Maria
Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria is a city in Santa Barbara County, on the Central Coast of California. The 2010 census population was 100,062, putting it ahead of Santa Barbara for the first time and making it the largest city in the county...
-San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and KION-TV
KION-TV
KION-TV is a full-power television station in Salinas, California, broadcasting on digital channel 32 as a CBS affiliate. The stations continues to use UHF channel 46 as its virtual channel through the use of PSIP. KION-TV shows local news, weather, and sports programming, as well as syndicated...
in Monterey, California
Monterey, California
The City of Monterey in Monterey County is located on Monterey Bay along the Pacific coast in Central California. Monterey lies at an elevation of 26 feet above sea level. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,810. Monterey is of historical importance because it was the capital of...
. KION carries The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
on a separate digital channel. Cowles would also have a management agreement with KCBA
KCBA
KCBA is a Fox affiliate television station in Salinas, California, USA. The station broadcasts its digital signal on VHF channel 13. KCBA is owned by Seal Rock Broadcasters, LLC and operated by Cowles Publishing Company through a local marketing agreement with CBS affiliate KION-TV channel...
, the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
affiliate serving Salinas, Monterey and Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, and would acquire two low power stations, KKFX-CA
KKFX-CA
KKFX-CA is the Class A television service Fox-affiliated television station for the Central Coast of California that is licensed to San Luis Obispo. It continues to broadcast an analog signal on UHF channel 24 from a transmitter near Serrano and U.S. 101 in the Los Padres National Forest even after...
, also Fox in San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
and the Telemundo
Telemundo
Telemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
affiliate KMUV-LP
KMUV-LP
KMUV-LP is the Telemundo-affiliated low-power television station in the Salinas-Monterey-Santa Cruz market. The station is located in Monterey, California and broadcasts in analog on UHF channel 23. Founded May 31, 1989, KMUV is currently owned by Cowles Publishing Company. KMUV-LP is a sister...
in Monterey. The deal closed on May 7, 2008.
Newsroom cutback
In October 2007 about thirty employees lost their jobs and about ten positions will end with early retirement offers due to a 10 percent reduction in the The Spokesman-Reviews newsroom budget. Quoted by ContextNext, the publisher said, "Our best advertisers must compete against a huge number of stores and websites that do not advertise much if at all."Cowles family
Cayuga County, New York
Cayuga County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It was named for one of the tribes of Indians in the Iroquois Confederation. Its county seat is Auburn.- History :...
. The two sisters married two brothers, Alfred Cowles, Sr.
Alfred Cowles, Sr.
Alfred Cowles, Sr. was an American businessperson and newspaper publisher. During the 1860s to 1880s he was bookkeeper, treasurer and business manager of the Chicago Tribune of which he was part owner....
and Edwin Cowles
Edwin Cowles
Edwin Cowles , born in Austinburg, was the publisher of The Cleveland Leader, Vice-President of the 1884 Republican National Convention, postmaster of Cleveland, April 4, 1861 - July 11, 1865, and elder brother of Alfred Cowles, Sr., also a newspaper publisher.-References:...
of Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
. Edwin published the Cleveland Leader and Alfred moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
where he purchased one third of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
.
Feminist and educator Betsy Mix Cowles
Betsy Mix Cowles
Betsy Mix Cowles was an early leader in the United States abolitionist movement. She was an active and influential Ohio-based reformer, and was a noted Feminist and an educator. She counted among her friends and acquaintances people such as Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, Henry C...
was Alfred and Edwin's paternal aunt. Edwin's sons Alfred and Eugene were chemists and metallurgists who invented and operated electric arc smelter
Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company
The Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company, founded as Cowles Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company, and Cowles Syndicate Company, Limited formed in the United States and England during the mid-1880s to extract and supply valuable metals. Founded by two brothers from Ohio, the Cowles companies are...
s to extract aluminum. Alfred Cowles
Alfred Cowles
Alfred Cowles, 3rd was an American economist, businessman and founder of the Cowles Commission. He graduated from Yale in 1913, where he was a member of Skull and Bones....
, 3rd—the grandson of Alfred, Sr.—founded the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics
Cowles Foundation
The Cowles Commission for Research in Economics is an economic research institute, founded in Colorado Springs in 1932 by Alfred Cowles, a businessman and economist. In 1939, the Cowles Commission moved to the University of Chicago under the directorship of Theodore O. Yntema. Jacob Marschak took...
following the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
Distantly related, the Cowles family of Spokane are about sixth cousins of the family of Gardner Cowles, Sr. of Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
and Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
who owned Cowles Media Company
Cowles Media Company
Cowles Media Company was a newspaper, magazine and information publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The company operated Cowles Business Media, Cowles Creative Publishing and Cowles Enthusiast Media units. The McClatchy Company purchased Cowles Media in 1998...
. Both Cowles publishing families are descendants of Hannah Bushoup (c.1613-1683) of Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
and John Cowles (1598–1675) of Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
See also
- Cowles Media CompanyCowles Media CompanyCowles Media Company was a newspaper, magazine and information publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The company operated Cowles Business Media, Cowles Creative Publishing and Cowles Enthusiast Media units. The McClatchy Company purchased Cowles Media in 1998...
- The Spokesman-Review